Encyclopedia of International Higher Education Systems and Institutions

Living Edition

Social Mobility and Higher Education

Living reference work entry
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9553-1_43-1
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Synonyms

Absolute mobility; Relative mobility; Social fluidity; Social openness

Definition

The impact of participation in tertiary-level education on the movement of individuals up or down the social class structure from one generation to the next (intergenerational mobility) or during the course of a career (intragenerational mobility).

Social mobility refers to the movement of individuals between different positions in the social structure over time. Closed societies are characterized by ascription, whereby social position is assigned early in life and is difficult to change. Contemporary notions of the good society instead emphasize openness and a shift from ascription to attainment, whereby social position is not determined by inheritance but rather by ability, effort, and disposition. Within sociology, studies of social mobility focus on the association between parental and filial social position across generations, typically employing occupational social class as the key measure.

Keywords

High Education Social Mobility High Education Enrollment High Education Expansion Advantage Background 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.School of Applied Social SciencesDurham UniversityDurhamUK
  2. 2.Department of EducationUniversity of YorkYorkUK